Finally I found her – She’s the one! We had been searching everywhere for a blue and tan bitch with a good temperament, preferably
with as good a pedigree as possible – and of course a good exterior was no hindrance – and there she was, a puppy owned by Orvokki Lämsä from Kuusamo. The only problem was that Kuusamo is situated in the middle of Finland,
which would mean, at least, 3-4 days journey by car. It was at the time of year when our students take their exams, and, being a high school teacher, not the most convenient time. I decided that the solution to the problem would be to go by air.

Before leaving, I had to get an import permit(this is no longer nessesary). With my friend, Jill Grenaa’s , guidance who, by the way, has provided useful instructions on the Danish Aussie site about importing a puppy before it is
3 months of age, I was ready to go. I learned some useful information along the way, such as, the fact that you can import a puppy without a rabies vaccination but only until they are 3 months old and there must be a written statement from the breeder
declaring that the puppy hasn’t been outside the home. I received the import permit from the Ministry of Provisions here in Denmark and then it was time to buy the tickets. It took 3 hours on the net in order to find the most inexpensive tickets
which, at the same time, fitted into my work schedule. Finally, I decided on Finnair with whom I ordered a compartment for my dog afterwards. The dog sits with it’s owner on the flight but only a certain number of dogs are allowed on each flight.
It is compulsory that the animal is in a carrier bag for dogs. There are certain regulations concerning measurements of the carrier bag and the cost of the flight depends on the weight of the dog. A 12 week old Aussie puppy is as light as a feather so the
cost of her trip was nothing to speak of.

So there I was, on my way from Copenhagen to Helsinki to Oulu, where Orvokki, the breeder had, very generously, arranged to meet me. (200 km from Kuusamo where she lives) With her, was our new member
of the family, Luna. It certainly wasn’t any problem to find Orvokki in the crowd since she was the only one with a little pup in her arms and, delightfully, no problem meeting Luna – She licked my face like there was no tomorrow. Orvokki
brought her friend Anu (who is also a breeder) with her since she doesn’t quite feel at home with the English language yet. They drove me to my hotel and it was great to exchange views on Aussies from Finland and Denmark. Luna took everything in her
stride and, being a puppy, the fur really flew. She was cheerful and lively with a hearty drive and enormously confident with people. Of course we can thank Orvokki for making sure her puppies are full of trust. Not only that, Luna even managed to see
to public matters outside despite being in new surroundings. Everything continued going smoothly for the rest of the trip: at night at the hotel she slept on her blanket and did her business outside on the lawn.

Departure from
Oulu was at 6:30 a.m. which meant that I had to get up at … well, very early and take a taxi to the bustling airport. But, to my surprise, at 5 a.m. we had the whole – and I mean the WHOLE – airport to ourselves. Why get up early when everything
can be managed within a half hour? At least that is what I learned. So we certainly had no problems due to stress and Luna had trotted jauntily back and forth in front of the airport so much that on our little journey from Oulu to Helsinki she slept like a
log. The stewardesses were quite impressed. At Helsinki airport she sat in a stately way, in her carrier bag, on top of the baggage car and allowed travelers to tickle her under her chin without any fuss. There was even an inquisitive group of friendly Australians
who stopped and asked which breed Luna belonged to …which was, actually, a bit amusing. It was a piece of cake for Luna to “do her business” on a newspaper. I restricted myself to the more authorized rest rooms.

On our way from Helsinki to Copenhagen, Luna gave the stewardess a quick lick on the face and passed out. She is quite the woman of the world who doesn’t allow herself to get excited about a little trip on an airplane. When we arrived
in Denmark, we were greeted by the whole family – Marius, Sofus and Deborah. Luna was still a bit weary but she perked up after a few minutes and allowed herself to be cooed by the family. The car was, of course, parked about as far from arrivals
as possible, but Luna trotted along on her leash with Marius the whole way.

The next stop was home to Soroe where our male dog Louis waited with no idea of what surprise was awaiting him. He took it well, the good-natured dog that
he is, and Luna gets away with a lot. She is, after all, just a puppy. Louis is, however, quite grateful that Luna has a playpen for dogs that we humans find convenient to put her in for short periods of time, so we can all get just a little bit
of sleep.